manx cat myths| tales | legends

There
is much speculation regarding the actual origin of the Manx and how it
happened to arrive on the Isle of Man.

We have read much about the Manx cat origin. Some of the stories are very colorful, bordering on the ridiculous
whilst others are more plausible.

1. the noah's ark myth

The myth goes, that Noah,
in his haste to herd all the animals on board the Ark, accidentally
closed the door on the tails of two domestic cats, severing their tails
and leaving them tailless for evermore.

The other tale is that some
tiresome dogs bit off the tails of two domestic cats as they were
leaving Noah's Ark. These cats then set out on a marathon swim until
they reached the Isle of Man.

2. rabbit tale

In
days gone by many people believed that the Manx cat breed was in fact the
offspring of a mating between a male rabbit and domestic cat!

A cute
story, but not genetically viable.

3. vikings

During
our research we found that the Norse who were of Scandinavian origin did inhabit
the Isle of Man.

Their Viking warriors are said to have cut off the
tails of the domestic cats inhabiting the island using their tails for
helmet plumes.

Whilst this may very well have occurred, docking tails
does not result in future cat generations being born tailless or with
short tails.

4. the russian connection

Some
people believe that it is possible that ships from the Crimea docked at
the Isle of Man and left some of their tailless ship cats on the
island.

5. east asia traders

Cats
with short tails are not common to Europe, but are native to East Asia.

The theory that short or tailless cats arrived at the Isle of Man from
East Asia via the trading routes is possible.

The argument that disputes
this theory is that the bobtailed cats from Asia carry a different gene
to Manx Cats.

6. the spanish armada

There
is also the possibility that tailless cats were brought ashore by
sailors when their ship was wrecked off the Isle of Man in 1588.

manx cat history

The
fact is that over hundreds of years, many ships from many countries
have docked on the shores of the Isle of Man.

The parent to the Manx cat
breed could have its origin in any of the ships cats that landed on the
island.

We can only conclude, that since the Manx Cat gene is rare or
absent in the rest of the world, that this is truly a rare cat breed
from the hills and valleys of the Isle of Man.

The first documented
history of this cat starts in 1810, but writings do date back to the
1750's.

Britain founded the first Manx Cat Club in 1901. This cat breed is
recognized by all major cat registries across the world.

It arrived in
the United States in 1908, or thereabouts, and received recognition in
the 1920's.

The number of Manx cats in the United Kingdom has declined,
but they are still popular in the United States and rare in Europe.

cymric or longhaired manxhistory

Records
show that the tailless, short haired Manx often produced longhaired
kittens in a litter.

These were generally considered undesirable and the
runts of the litter!

It was not until 1960 when Blair Wright (A Canadian Cat Breeder)
and Leslie Falteisek (an American Breeder) decided to 'fix' this
characteristic and start a selective breeding program with these
semi-longhaired cats.

It is not confirmed how this semi- to longhaired gene came about.

One
theory is that it was introduced by the Vikings when their ships
docked at the Isle of Man and their ships cats, the Norwegian Forest,
mated with the Manx cat breed.

Others believe that the Persian or Turkish Angora
cat was introduced into the breed many years ago.

Ms Wright is credited for naming the cat, Cymric, which is a Celtic or Welsh language and the Welsh name for Wales.

The Cymric and Manx cat breed standard is identical apart from the major
differentiator, the coat length.

Most major cat registries recognize
this cat breed. Some do however, see it as a Longhaired Manx and have
revised the Manx breed standard and dropped the name Cymric.